Britain now has weight loss courses... for 10-YEAR-OLDS

OVERWEIGHT children as young as 10 are being enrolled on a taxpayer-funded course to help them slim down.

A 12-week course teaching diet and exercise skills is now available for children [GETTY]

In a damning indictment of our couch potato society, they are to be taught about diet and exercise – because their weight is already at risk of causing health and social problems while they are still at primary school.

The children will take part in cookery classes and physical activities, as well as discussing the underlying reasons for their weight gain.

Parents are being encouraged to “admit their child is overweight” and enrol them on the 12-week council-run Self Help Independence Nutrition and Exercise (Shine) course.

We should be horrified that such young children are overweight or obese

Tam Fry, of the Child Growth Foundation

Tam Fry, chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, praised the “sensitive” approach of the scheme but said: “We should be horrified that such young children are overweight or obese.

“It is a shame that we have to have these things in the first place. In some instances parents will learn as much as their children because they have never been taught it themselves before.”

The Shine course will start in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in July, and is for children aged 10 to 17.

According to figures from the National Child Measurement Programme, 31.2 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds at schools in North Somerset are “above a healthy weight”.

The Shine course aims to encourage children to adopt healthy and active lifestyles, as well as improving their self-esteem and confidence.

They will be taught how to read nutritional labels, what food groups are important and why they should be involved in their family’s shopping and cooking.

They will also discuss body image and develop their own daily exercise plan.

A spokesman for the scheme, which began in Sheffield and has also run in Plymouth, said: “Our main priority is to encourage longterm healthy eating.

“We’ll also be encouraging physical activity and looking at the reasons that they may be a little bit above their expected weight.

“Obviously it’s also quite a difficult thing to get the parents to agree to send their children – it isn’t easy to admit your child is overweight.”

A spokeswoman for eating disorder charity Beat said: “It’s important how the message is conveyed to young people and their parents.

“A healthy balanced diet and regular exercise is key.

“If there are underlying problems driving the weight gain then it’s good to know that these would be addressed, but hopefully in a way that will not cause a contrary reaction in a young child and lead them to lose an unhealthy amount of weight.”